


Up All Night

by AvaRosier



Series: The Island of Misfit WIPs [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 10:43:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6235552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaRosier/pseuds/AvaRosier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someday, Finn is going to owe Jasper a huge thank-you gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up All Night

Finn had given up on his term paper around one in the morning, electing to get some sleep before he had to get up for Wallace’s 8 a.m. lecture. The man hated him and Finn often cursed himself for picking the bastard's class instead of Dr. Vie's.  Finn had always been vocal about his distaste for the concept of ‘Western Civilization’ and Wallace didn't like being told that the way American schools taught history was profoundly fucked up, hence why Finn was on the man's shit list.

So he had made himself go to bed early, not wanting to be running late or too tired to deal with the professor. It was all for naught, however, when the shrill blaring of his fire alarm had him jack-knifing awake in bed.

The digital clock read 3:25 in the morning.

“Fucking hell!” He groaned, stumbling down his hallway and into the rest of his apartment looking for the source of the alarm. There was nothing- he hadn’t left the oven on and there was no smoke, no flame in sight. Which meant it was a building-wide alarm.

 _Jasper and Monty had better not been doing something stupid while high_ , he groused as he shoved his feet into his sneakers and grabbed his laptop and flash drive first before his wallet and keys before leaving.  He’d known it was just a matter of time before Jasper Jordan blew something up.

His apartment was on the fourth floor, so it took him a minute to reach the bottom and join the exodus of sleepy residents as they made their way across the lawn. A fire truck was just pulling up to the curb and Finn hoped that whatever it was that triggered the alarm, it was minor. The last thing he wanted was for his belongings to be rendered extra crispy.

It was an unseasonably warm October night and it took Finn minutes to realize he had left the building in nothing but his underwear and tank. Shrugging, he sat down on the grass near the towering oak tree and set his motley collection of things down next to him.

“You know, they say when the fire alarm goes off, what you choose to save says a lot about what you value.” A feminine voice sounded near him.

Finn craned his neck to look up at the familiar looking dishevelled blonde standing before him.  He knows two things about her: that she lives in apartment 319, and that she paints. He knows the latter because he’s noticed the smudges on her clothing and forearms from time to time. Glancing down at his things, Finn thought about her statement for a second.

“And what do you think my choices say about me?”

Blondie shrugged and wrinkled her nose, making her oversize glasses bobble on her face. Her hair was down in messy waves and she was wrapped up in an UVA sweater but her legs were bare, only encased in shorts. Finn swallowed hard and resolutely kept his eyes above her shoulders. The last thing he needed was a hard-on when he only had his boxer-briefs on.

“That you’re a student who’s learned to be paranoid about losing his work because college is a soulless bureaucracy?” She posited. Finn snorted and allowed himself a quick glance over her body.

“And what did  _you_  choose to save?” He asked, taking note of the small Styrofoam box she held in one hand.

She reached into her sweatshirt pocket and pulled out something that glinted in the streetlights. “My dad’s watch and the lemon tart from Albemarle. I’m Clarke, by the way.”

“Finn. And I’m pretty sure your choices mean you’ve got your priorities in the right order.” He said. That got a grin from Clarke. “I’m also pretty sure the landlord only rents to students, so what’re you in for?”

Clarke made a moue of distaste. “Well, I’m a lowly sophomore and I was going to go the pre-med route, but my heart just doesn’t seem into it anymore. I’m not sure I even need to ask- I’ve seen you carrying books on ancient history.“

Finn nodded. It wasn’t worth the mountain of debt or the hard work if you didn’t want to pursue the career. He was lucky he actually loved history and politics. “Got it in one. So, Clarke, if you aren’t going to heal the world, what do you want to do?”

She didn’t seem to have an answer to his question. But she shrugged anyways. “Eat?”

That elicited a bark of laughter from Finn. “I’m sure you could find a way to turn that into a career.”

Whatever Clarke was going to say was interrupted by an abashed Jasper Jordan marching up to them with his hands shoved deep down his jacket pockets. He ignored Finn’s chin-jerk of greeting and raised his eyes to Clarke. “Uh…Clarke…the good news is that the very minor fire that started in my kitchen has been contained. The bad news is that a lot of smoke seeped into your place and the truck captain says you might want to stay someplace else tonight and air the apartment out.”

Jasper clicked his tongue and waved a hand in the air, evidently considering patting her shoulder in a comforting manner but thinking better of it when he saw the look on her face. Wincing, he  pointed in the direction of their fuming landlord, who had just pulled up in his ForTwo subcompact. “I’m just gonna…say hello to Mr. Shumway. I’ll talk to you later…or not.” And with that, Jasper hightailed it out of there, leaving Clarke standing there looking as if she were doing a breathing exercise.

Now, Finn could be honest with himself. He was interested.  _Very_  interested. But this was purely a gesture of goodwill. That was his excuse and he was sticking to it. If Raven weren't two states away in grad school, she'd be laughing at him right now.

“I have a fork in my apartment, you know.”

“Huh?”

“A fork,” he repeated himself, jerking his chin in the direction of the box she was nearly crumbling in her hand. “If you wanted to eat that tart. I also have a clean couch and a blanket if you wanted to get some sleep tonight before coming up with ways to murder Jasper in the morning. I’ll even help.”

Clarke looked relieved and she nodded. “I think I just might take you up on that offer. I don’t want to put you out, though. Do you need to be up early?”

"Nah. My schedule’s free until after lunch."

 _Screw Wallace_ , Finn thought as he smiled up at Clarke. He was going to sleep in and maybe sweet-talk Clarke into going to breakfast with him.

Priorities, and all.

 

 


End file.
